The uppermost covering of the Mishkan, the mobile Tabernacle of
the desert, was made from the colorful skins of the Tachash. The
exact nature of this unusual animal is not clear. The Sages
(Shabbat 28b) were not even sure whether the Tachash was a kosher
animal. According to Rabbi Meir, it was a unique, multi-colored
creature, with a single horn in its forehead. After the Tachash
made its appearance in the time of Moses, it disappeared from
sight.

How could the holy Tabernacle be constructed from an impure animal?
What purpose would this serve?

The difference between pure and impure is similar to the difference
between good and evil. These distinctions are true and valid, and
it is necessary for our moral development to recognize and emulate
good, while abhorring evil and corruption.
However, these distinctions are really only by way of comparison.
Good and evil are in fact relative terms. On a very fundamental
level we recognize — at least intellectually — that everything has
some ultimate purpose and value. Nothing can exist, nothing was
created, which is absolute evil. Everything must relate, on some
level, to the underlying good of the universe.

This abstract recognition of the hidden value of evil has no
practical application, since morality is based upon the strongest
possible feelings of hatred for evil and love for good. Therefore,
when it comes to fulfilling mitzvot, which are practical ethical
guidelines, it is not appropriate to use impure objects.

The Tabernacle, however, may have been an exception to this rule.

The generation of Jews who lived in the desert for forty years was
a special generation. Their spiritual achievements were for all
times. They encompassed the essence of all future generations, so
that the covenant they made with God — and the Torah which they
accepted upon themselves — obligated not only their generation, but
all future ones as well.

Like the special generation of the desert, the Mishkan embodied
timeless aspects of the universe. The holy sanctuary of the desert was
not a matter of specific morality for a particular era, but
encompassed the expanse of all times and all things. It reflected
the beautiful harmony of the entire universal order, and the divine
aim of elevating all of creation. It was therefore possible
that its outermost covering was made from an impure animal.
The Tachash, with its many hues and colors, represented the ultimate
value of the many forces in the world, in all their variations. Its
inclusion in the Tabernacle, albeit in its outermost layer, enabled
an expression of our intellectual recognition of God’s essential
unity, that nothing exists outside of Him, and that all was created
in His Glory.